In Moscow on Sunday, a demonstration by gay rights activists was met by a hostile and violent crowd that threw eggs and punched at least one protester on camera. Several of them were then arrested for holding an illegal protest, and some have claimed that Russian police officers beat them as well.

Calling them 'satanic,' Moscow's mayor had banned gay rights marches.

British pop singer Richard Fairbrass of Right Said Fred (pictured above) and UK activist Peter Tatchell were among those beaten by the neo-Nazi mob.

According to an account in the Daily Mail, "Mr Fairbrass, 53, the Right Said Fred singer, was being interviewed on TV during the Moscow march when an anti-gay activist, dressed all in black, surged forward and began raining blows on his head and punched him full in the face."

"The attack left him with blood dripping from cuts around his eyes and nose," Richard Simpson reported for the UK paper. "Mr Tatchell, 55, was repeatedly beaten and kicked before being taken away by two riot policemen."

In 1991, Right Said Fred's "I'm Too Sexy" became a smash hit all over the world, including America where it topped the charts.

At his Time blog, Andrew Sullivan notes, "The cops arrested the gay activists - not the violent mob."

"I fear the neo-fascist nature of the Putin government is getting worse not better," Sullivan adds.